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THE CUBA REVIEW 



AGRICULTURAL INFORMATION 



AN IMPORTANT LETTER REGARDING THE COCOANUT BUDROT THE 



CUBAN farmer's UNFORTUNATE POSITION 



THE COCOANUT BUDROT 



To the Editor of The Cuba Review: 



The latest work on the cocoanut budrot 

 should be noted, not because of its value 

 but because people not acquainted with the 

 actual facts of the case may be misled into 

 accepting the conclusions. 



Sr. Don Celestino Bencomo Espinosa has 

 issued a lengthy report in the Diario de 

 la Marina of Havana of July 31st and 

 August 1st, covering 4 years of study. The 

 work is largely a compilation from litera- 

 ture and a deduction as to the real cause 

 from the observations given in the litera- 

 ture without adequate study in the field. 



In the first place the author of the article 

 failed to read all the available literature, 

 and perhaps more unfortunately he appears 

 to have had little training in any subject 

 that would fit him to discuss the disease 

 intelligently even had he read all of the 

 literature and studied the disease in the 

 field. 



He arrives at the remarkable conclusion 

 that the rhinoceros beetle is the cause of 

 the trouble and that being the case he feels 

 in a position to furnish recommendations 

 for the control of the disease. 



It suffices to state here that the United 

 States Department of Agriculture pub- 

 lished a bulletin in 1911 in which proof is 

 given that the disease is bacterial, the 

 specific organism causing the disease is 

 described and identified, and recommen- 

 dations for the control are given. This 

 bulletin is based upon four years work in 

 the field and considers in detail all phases 

 of the question, the influence of insects, 

 fungi, bacteria, soil conditions and at- 

 mospheric conditions upon the presence of 

 the disease. Copies of this bulletin may be 

 had upon application to the Department at 

 Washington or to the writer of this note. 

 Both Prof. Earle and Mr. Home have done 

 efficient work upon this disease and if 

 their recommendations as to the control 

 were carried out by the Cuban planters 

 there would be little cause for worry in 

 the future in regard to this disease. 



John R. Johnston 

 Rio Piedras, P. R. 



CONDITION OF THE CUBAN FARMER 



(As described by a Cuban newspaper) 



Isolated and alone, given up to his 

 scarce resources and ignorance, without a 



hope for better days and receiving no com- 

 forting word which shall make him glad, 

 such is the sorrowful situation of the pres- 

 ent day Cuban farmer ! 



Rarely is there to be found a country in 

 the world where the farmer is so left to 

 his own resources by the government as is 

 the Cuban "guajiro." 



There is no country in Europe where so 

 little attention is paid the farmer as has 

 been done on this side of the Atlantic, 

 where agriculture as the rule is the stabil- 

 ity of the nations. 



In Cuba the government makes no effort 

 to reach the thatched hut of the farmer 

 who produces the wealth of the nation. 

 They are not taken in hand and educated 

 and told how they might improve their 

 plantings and how to double their products. 

 They are left alone to their resources. 



In some places where roads have been 

 built in order to facilitate the transporta- 

 tion of their fruit and produce to the mar- 

 ket, the government has been content in 

 merely building the roads to abandon them 

 later and allowing them to be destroyed for 

 lack of care. 



This is not a statement made for the 

 sake of our argument. We can mention, 

 for instance, the road from Cienfuegos to 

 Manicaragua. When this road was built 

 the zones of Cumanayagua began to flour- 

 ish to the point that the road was always 

 seen patronized by farmers taking their 

 tobacco, eggs, produce and other products 

 to the market. But the road is now im- 

 passable. The automobiles which used to 

 employ that road transporting passengers 

 now lie in the scrap heap, the result of the 

 bad roads which produced their destruc- 

 tion and the farmers who had begun to 

 spf c'%me hopes are now again left to their 

 own resources as in former days. 



They need to be protected, nay, they 

 should be protected and what is due them 

 should come forth from the powers that 

 be in some manner or otherwise, the 

 quicker the better ; Cuba cannot remain in 

 the rear in what other countries consider 

 their first obligation to the producing ele- 

 ments of the nation. 



NATIVE CONSUMPTION OF ORANGES 



Cuba raises a great many oranges but 

 very few leave the island, in fact, she im- 

 ports some oranges. There are not enough 

 oranges raised in Cuba to supply the de- 

 mand. Cubans like oranges and it is not 



